How to achieve victory in your vegetable garden

CORNWALL — Gardeners and farmers these days need to be nimble and react deftly to market changes, as the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the food supply chain become apparent. 

Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway, who is a farmer by profession, predicted a healthy season for area farmers markets as consumers seek fresh produce and other farm products, while facing shortages on grocers’ shelves.  

In a Zoom talk on Saturday, May 9, sponsored by the Cornwall Library as part of the Cornwall Gardens series, Ridgway presented a number of tips on growing vegetables in backyard gardens, and also spoke of the pressures on farmers unable to sell to restaurants and to larger distributors.

“It’s important to pivot,” Ridgway said of managing his sizable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm on Town Road in Cornwall. 

“People need to be on their toes,” and be ready to replace restaurants as the main buyers of farm foods. More and more farms will turn to CSAs for their annual income. With a CSA, members sign up at the beginning of the season and purchase a share of the eventual farm bounty. The membership funds help the farmers to pay their upfront costs; and the members join the farmers in coping with whatever nature brings in a year’s growing season. Sometimes the tomatoes are abundant; sometimes they’re not.

The two farmers markets in Cornwall will open for business again on Saturday, May 23, with a stringent set of health guidelines.  Customers can no longer provide their own bags. Instead farmers will provide paper bags, and they will pre-package some vegetables, particularly the leafy sort.  

Cash collection will be by a separate cashier who does not touch the produce. 

Masks and social distancing will be required. There will be a system of pre-ordering and picking up.

Ridgway noted that there will be some new vendors this year; but he also noted that this year more than ever people are keen to start their own vegetable gardens.  

“People in Cornwall like to play in the dirt — or have someone play in the dirt for them,” Ridgway said of local enthusiasm for gardens. He applauds everyone who connects with the soil.

For home gardeners attempting a few vegetables, Ridgway offered some tips.  Seeds are best if they come from local sources; he suggested Johnny’s of Maine and Hart’s as possibilities. Also, if buying plants, locally started plants are best because they are acclimated to growing conditions here.

Feeding the soil is important for healthy growth. Ridgway makes his own compost and noted that last year’s multi-layered compost is now ready for spreading nutrients back into the soil. 

Where the garden is placed in the yard is important. Plenty of sun is essential; so too is a spot where the soil is well-drained. 

“Plants don’t like to have wet feet,” Ridgway said.

Be aware of the calendar. Wait on planting until the soil registers about 50 degrees and the air is at about 60 degrees.

As for plant choices, “diversify against adversity.”  

“Last year, peas did not do well, but a late crop of spinach and lettuce came in,” Ridgway said. Warming trends have brought his farm the possibility of growing and marketing more fruit.

Battling the rise in food insecurity, Ridgway described the growth of grant-supported cooperative efforts among farmers and growers to provide fresh produce through a network of distribution points throughout the region.

Speaking of the business of farming, Ridgway said that agriculture is not just about growing things, it includes marketing, too.  For more information about Ridgway Farm products, go to www.ridgwayfarm.com.